The British Embassy in the Republic of China is located on Huju North Road, Jinling. It has 9 Western-style two-story buildings with 17 rooms, 10 Western-style bungalows with 56 rooms, and a total of 253 Chinese-style bungalows, with a construction area of ​​nearly 5,500 square meters.

Among them, the core office building is called Xiaobailou by the surrounding people because of its white exterior wall. It is a British classical building with a brick-wood concrete structure and an elegant shape. There are gardens and fountains in the front and rear.

In the conference room of Xiaobai Building, Ambassador Bai Longdu was dressed in formal attire, sitting upright on a gilt sofa in the Victorian style, with his chin slightly raised and looking forward at a forty-five degree angle, his expression looking extremely solemn.

It seems that Mr. Ambassador is considering a serious matter. Considering the recent situation in North China and Shanghai, it may also be related to the situation between China and Japan. He is indeed an old friend who cares about the Republic of China.

After maintaining this posture of caring about the country and the people for several minutes, Bai Longdu's fat body suddenly swayed. Then he slowly turned his eyes to a certain guest and asked softly without moving his lips.

"Mr. Reporter, is it okay?"

"Mr. Ambassador, please wait a moment, that's all. Don't move~"

"Kacha~"

With the sound of a shutter, Bailongdu tore off the tie at his collar and slumped on the spot like a deflated rubber ball. He breathed heavily and took the water glass handed to him by the military attache Vicente.

After drinking half a glass of water in one gulp, he panted and looked at the guest with a very dissatisfied tone: "Mr. Reporter, the agreed upon interview fee of five hundred dollars must be increased, otherwise it will not make up for the loss of my time."

"Definitely, definitely. I know Mr. Ambassador's rules and have already prepared them. I will definitely satisfy you at the end of the interview." The equally fat reporter touched the mustache on his face and assured with a smile.

That's pretty much it.

Time is money.

Bai Longdu nodded, very satisfied with the visitor's understanding, and then cursed that damn Beilun Port Development Company. If the other party hadn't defrauded him of his life savings, why would he be like this?

The fact that the dignified ambassador was deceived by a Chinese rich man has spread throughout the British diplomatic system, and the newspapers in Fleet Street, which are afraid of chaos, have made lengthy reports.

Even the Prime Minister personally sent a telegram to inquire about the matter. What is even more annoying is that in order not to arouse suspicion, he could only pinch his nose and reduce the amount of money defrauded from five digits to four digits, thus providing cover for the scammer.

You must know that when the Japanese Deputy Consul General in Jinling, Miyamoto Hideaki, disappeared, he made a lot of money by relying on the Shanghai stock market crash. This amount of money is considered a large amount even in London, where many rich people are everywhere.

He originally thought about buying a manor, becoming His Majesty's neighbor, or even buying a title, but now it's all over. Bailondu even began to worry whether he would become the first imperial ambassador to starve to death after retirement.

The only way to avoid this kind of tragedy is to make more money, so whether it's cutting ribbons for foreign companies or accepting interviews with "tea money", he will not let go of any activity that offers money.

"Mr. Ambassador? Mr. Ambassador?"

"What do you think of the Sino-Japanese War?"

Just when the daily man Bai Longdu was thinking about how much money he could make this time, several calls from reporters woke him up from his memories. He raised his head and put on a standard commercial smile, and said to the big customers very cordially.

"Please rest assured, no matter what you want to hear, sir, as long as it does not involve the empire's diplomatic strategy, I am willing to fully cooperate in a private capacity, even if the locusts attack the Japanese, it is not impossible.

But you have to pay more. You know, the prices in your country are rising every day. It's all the fault of those dwarfs. They are all responsible for the situation in Asia becoming what it is now. This sentence is free.

In addition, if you have friends who want to leave the Republic of China and go to any country within the sphere of influence of the British Empire, I can provide some help. The passport is three thousand for one person, five thousand for two people, three..."

"Cough~cough"

Vicente, who was next to him, was stunned when he heard this. He quickly put his fist in front of his mouth and coughed twice, trying to remind the other party not to say anything. If this matter spread, the two of them would be doomed.

At this moment, he regretted endlessly. He had so blindly believed in Bai Longdu's professional analysis that he actually invested decades of his salary in that stupid great plan. It was so embarrassing for a colonel to go around cheating and drinking.

"Vicente, don't worry."

Over there, Bai Longdu looked at the fellow sufferers with dissatisfaction and continued to enthusiastically promote the so-called passport package. As an ambassador, he had the obligation to increase the population of desolate territories such as the Pacific Islands.

However, he felt that the other party would not be interested. Since starting this business, except for a stupid German businessman who bought dozens of copies, no one was willing to spend a lot of money to associate with the indigenous people.

As a result, the reporter opposite immediately clapped his hands after hearing the advertisement: "Mr. Ambassador, I have some colleagues who just need British Empire passports, but the information is not ready yet. How can we solve this problem?"

And besides interviewing you today, I also have a special mission. Patriotic businessmen in Shanghai pooled together some money and entrusted me to invite you to attend the founding ceremony of a rescue organization composed of caring people from all over the world.

The purpose of this organization is to help refugees who have lost their homes due to the war and provide them with basic food and drinking water. The ceremony will be held tomorrow afternoon. I wonder if you have time to attend."

Shanghai?

tomorrow?

Although Bai Longdu was greedy for money, he had worked in the diplomatic industry for decades and knew the rules of the game very well. He also knew that holding some money was dangerous, so he thought for a moment and shook his head to the reporter in a helpless manner.

"No, London doesn't want to get involved in the conflict just yet, and a war may break out there at any time. I'm sorry I can't agree to this. As for the first thing, we can provide a batch of blank passports.

Your colleagues can fill in the information however they want. After the balance is paid, the passports will be sent back to here. I will arrange for staff to process and file them as quickly as possible, and will definitely not delay your itinerary."

"Three thousand dollars, Mr. Ambassador."

"This is not a matter of money. The empire attaches great importance to its relationship with Japan. I must obey."

"four thousand."

"You don't have to say it anymore, I am an imperial official and will not give in to money."

"Five thousand."

"Britain and Japan have a traditional alliance, and the friendship between the two parties is unbreakable..."

"Six thousand, the last time."

"make a deal!"

Bailongdu, who had been resolute just now, immediately changed his face to a smile, stood up and held the reporter's hand tightly without letting go, as if he was afraid that the reporter would run away without paying him. Vicente covered his eyes with pain on his face.

But Bailongdu didn't care at all. Six thousand dollars was enough for him to live a decent retirement life. If he worked hard to sell more passports, maybe he could get his lost London estate and imperial title back.

Whether or not the Japanese have objections is none of his business. If the Japanese are willing to pay, they can also serve the other party. This has nothing to do with morality or personal emotions, it is just business.

Now that the general direction has been discussed, the remaining details are easy to discuss. The two parties immediately determined the itinerary for tomorrow. In order to better welcome the Ambassador, the reporter even set the time accurately to the minute.

Bai Longdu has no objection to this, and who doesn't want to be taken seriously by others? Besides, in the land of Asia, is there anyone who dares to attack officials of the British Empire? This is absolutely impossible.

Compared with his optimism, Vicente, a professional soldier, was much more alert. After confirming the itinerary, he asked seemingly unintentionally: "Sorry, Mr. reporter, which newspaper are you from? Please forgive me, I didn't hear clearly.

According to the regulations of the embassy, ​​I must keep records and verify my identity with your newspaper. This is to take responsibility for the safety of Mr. Ambassador. After all, the Republic of China is not considered safe, and the Liuguo Hotel incident is an example."

"Haha, Mr. Officer is right."

The reporter didn't mind hearing this and replied with a smile: "I am from the Shanghai Shock Newspaper. It was published to the outside world at the beginning of this year. Its audience is mainly businessmen and various agencies, with a daily circulation of thousands of copies.

You can call the newspaper office to inquire and confirm my identity. It is getting late. If there is nothing else, I will leave first. We will meet at the venue tomorrow. Please be sure to attend on time."

With that said, he took out a brown paper bag from his bag and put it on the sofa, then stood up and walked out. The smiling Bailongdu quietly winked at Vicente and accompanied him out of the conference room.

Shock report? What the hell is this name? It sounds like it's not a serious newspaper. Vicente frowned and came to the corner of the room. He immediately picked up the phone and made two calls. His face gradually became better.

"How is it? Is the newspaper real?"

At this time, Bai Longdu, who had finished sending the person off, quickly came to him and asked seriously, this guy is not worried about his own safety, but he is afraid that he will encounter a scammer again and not be able to collect the balance. This kind of mistake cannot be made a second time.

.

"It's true. There is indeed a shocking report in the reply from the Shanghai Consulate. The writing is sharp and often has different views on the world situation. It is good at attracting readers with exaggerated headlines. It has developed very well in the past few months."

Faced with the boss's questions, Vicente responded respectfully: "I also called the newspaper to confirm that the interview was true. It's just that the other party didn't know about the founding ceremony of the rescue organization, but I personally think this is normal."

"Of course it's normal. The reporter must have gained some benefits from it, so why would he tell the newspaper?" Bai Longdu bent down, picked up the brown paper bag, opened it and looked at it, and immediately showed a bright smile.

There was a full seven thousand dollars inside, and the other party actually paid the reward in advance in one lump sum. It was really comfortable to trade with a smart person. He reluctantly pointed out two thousand dollars and handed it to Vicente, warning with a distressed look on his face.

"Okay, get ready. You and I will drive to Shanghai early tomorrow morning. Remember to bring a radio and guards with you. If necessary, you can contact the Imperial Fleet on the Yangtze River. I don't want to meet a maniac like the masked man."

"Yes, Mr. Ambassador, and you gave me a hundred dollars less."

"Damn it, I must have counted it wrong!"

No matter how Bairondo and Vicente fought, the reporter they called left the embassy and went directly to the train station to board the train bound for Shanghai, and quietly jumped off the train just before it started.

With the help of the white steam, he slipped out of the station through the side door and got into a car without anyone noticing. A man in a Chinese tunic suit waiting inside immediately handed him a new set of clothes, Zhengsehui reported.

"Section Chief, the British indeed called the Shocking Newspaper. The brother there gave a positive reply in accordance with the instructions of the deputy director and you. What should we do next? Do we need to publish relevant reports in the newspaper?"

"No need, go back home."

The fake reporter who sneaked into the British embassy was none other than Gucci. He whispered back to his subordinates and began to remove the disguise on his face. This was not only because the task was not visible, but also because he was worried that he would be recognized.

A few years ago, when they were investigating the Japanese drugs and East Asia Club cases, he and Zuo Chong were lurking in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under pseudonyms. They also attended a dinner together, during which they met Bai Longdu.

To be on the safe side, he used fillers and pigments to completely change his appearance before meeting the other person. This level of camouflage is very harmful to the body and must be removed as soon as possible, otherwise it will easily leave marks on the skin.

It didn't take long for Gu Qi to return to his original state. He sat in the car and thought secretly about what the deputy director wanted to do. In fact, he probably guessed it. He was afraid that the matter would be too big and not end well, which would be troublesome.

Looking out the window at the sky that had become gloomy at some point, he made a bold decision. Even if he killed all the insiders, he would not be able to give the British an excuse. He said one last sentence silently in his heart.
Chapter completed!